


together

by RainPhee



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bonding Moments between Boys, Canon Compliant, Empath Characters, Hurt/Comfort, More tags to be added, Original Female Character - Freeform, Other, i have very few tag ideas for this, i literally have no idea where this fits in the timeframe of the show, im trying, in-universe, lets just say the future who cares, shes a little baby alien dont worry, this was a prompt thing fron tumblr, unexpected caretaking of baby alien
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-27
Updated: 2017-02-20
Packaged: 2018-09-20 08:22:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9482648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainPhee/pseuds/RainPhee
Summary: Aliens. They come in all forms, shapes and sizes, ranging from the titanic to the miniscule. Societies far removed from human understanding grow and die out in the cosmos, and species so otherworldly live in the depths of space.Not a single member of Voltron was ready to be taking care of an alien baby themselves.But that's what they got.





	1. discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Lance finds something.

This was the last thing Lance had expected to find in the belly of a Galran prison ship.

“Move, move, move!” He shouted behind him, holding his bayard prominently in front of his chest. Prisoners rushed out towards the holes leading to the docking bays, smoking wreckage of Galra bots sparking everywhere. Chatter crackled in his helmet.

“That’s the last holding room!” That was Hunk, yelling as the sound of crumpling metal attested to his statement. “Everybody, go, towards the docks!”

“Wait up one sec before we leave, buddy,” Lance shouted over the din of the helmet feed. The panicked screams and orders could be heard through each paladin’s helmet, amplifying in Lance’s ears, but he had no choice but to listen.

“I’ve found another closed room. I just want to blast it open to make sure I’m not missing anyone.” God, what if they had missed someone? Lance shuddered at the thought of one lost soul, crushed by the disintegrating ship as it fell to pieces. Best to make doubly sure.

“All right, but hurry. This ship is falling apart, and if we’re not quick about it, it’ll take us down with it.” Shiro shouted, and Lance nodded, even though he knew the movement couldn’t be seen by his teammates.

Aiming his bayard, he squinted a bit and blasted the lock on the door; it came apart easily under the weight of the ship splitting at the seams. Inside was dark, and mustier than the rest of the prison halls. Lance pushed open the broken door, hearing the ceiling above croak dangerously.

“What’s in there, buddy?” That was Keith, his voice coming hard, harsh inhales squealing in the microphones. Normally, the sound of Keith made Lance hyperfocus in on him, noting every detail of everything that so deeply _aggravated_ him in the most spellbinding way, but now, Lance stood, jaw agape at the sight before him.

“I think,” he said, slowly, even as the ship crumpled around him, “I think it’s an egg.”


	2. birth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which something new comes into the world.
> 
> Content warning: graphic description of exploding egg and a lot of goop. Also a crying goopy alien baby. Be warned.

The egg was an ovoid shape, placed on a sleek Galra pedestal in the middle of the small room. It was asymmetrical, covered in lumps and protrusions, and one side was puffed up like the tentacles of an octopus covering its shell. It glowed with a strange, mesmerising light- a pulsating neon glow that wasn’t quite any color Lance could describe.

“An egg?” Hunk asked, in that voice that indicated that he wasn’t paying his complete attention to this. Lance took a step forwards and the egg’s glow shifted to a pale, soothing blue, like the edges of the morning sky.

“Well, if it’s just an egg, then you should get out of there,” huffed Keith, short of breath. “Everyone’s almost to the castle now, so w-”

“No, no...” Lance interrupted, taking another step closer to the egg. A hum began to permeate the room, deep and throbbing, and the closer he got the easier it was to tell that the egg was _breathing_...

“It... it wants me to get closer. It needs me to get closer.”

“You ever seen _Alien_ , Lance?” Pidge cut through the assorted sounds in his helmet feed.

“Yeah.”

“Remember the scene in the alien ship at the beginning?”

“...yeah...”

“I don't think I need to say any more on the matter.” She said, voice stern. “Don’t do it.”

“This- this isn’t like that at all, I swear,” Lance said as he walked ever closer to the egg. The hum was getting rather oppressing, now, filling the air with its baritone thrum.

“Lance, don’t,” Keith warned, his voice low. “Just get back here an-”

He touched the egg.

It immediately exploded in cracks of goo, shell and flesh, falling apart from the inside as the lumps of meat holding it together slapped to the ground wetly. Lance groaned as the fluid inside splashed all over his suit, leaving him coated with a translucent, shimmering substance. The glow faded, but didn’t disappear entirely, and he wondered why.

“Did you touch it, Lance?” Shiro was the scariest member of team Voltron, Lance remembered, especially when he was using that tone. He wiped sticky fluid off his visor and grimaced at it dripping off his fingers. “Uh... yeah.”

The other four members of Voltron groaned simultaneously, and Lance wanted to shrink up inside his armor.

“What happened?” Hunk asked, and a tremor ran through the ship, raining little chunks of debris from the ceiling.

“Yeah, it blew up on me. Covered me in this goopy stuff that sticks everywhere. I’m still not sure why it started... humming...” Lance trailed off as he raked his eyes over the collapsed egg, dripping with fluid and chunks of meat, and that glow that still prevailed somehow.

“What is it? What happened?” Hunk asked worriedly as Lance wiped more goo off his visor in shock.

There was something, sticky with fluid and emitting a soft blue glow, its tiny chest pumping, in the wreckage of the egg.

“Lance, this ship is about to fall apart. Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter. The egg blew up. Get back to your lion now.” Shiro’s voice was stern in the comms, and Lance knew he had to obey. It probably wasn’t actually breathing, just a lump of flesh that was being shaken by the tremors...

But then it started to cry.

As soon as the high, reedy noise hit the air, Lance moved. He dashed towards it and scooped it up in his free hand, feeling its slippery surface wriggle in his arms as he shot out the door. The frantic run towards Blue was punctuated by the screams of the thing, the crumble and screech of the collapsing Galra ship, and finally, the comforting rumble of Blue herself.

Lance exhaled as he sat in the lion’s cockpit, despite the screams of his teammates and the thin, weak cries from the creature still in his lap. He ignored the rest of Voltron for a moment and attended to whatever had come from that egg.

It was slick with fluid, shining in Blue’s internal lights. From what he could tell, it was a furry creature, bipedal and a purplish color. It had catlike ears and a tail with some kind of bauble on the end, glittering yellow.

The oddest part about it was the armor. A diamond-shaped plate that widened and extended over the shoulders was mounted over its heart, made of thick black callous. In the centre, just over where the heart would be, a teardrop-shaped gemstone glittered, pulsing a blue light.

As he inspected it, the creature slowed with its crying and stopped, curling up as tightly as it could and shrinking up next to Lance’s abdomen. He continued staring, but decided to finally answer the frantic voices on his comms.

“Lance!” Keith shouted, borderline angry. “What just happened?”

“Are you safe?”

“What was that crying sound?”

“Calm down!” He shouted, finally looking through his lion’s windows she sped towards the castle. “I’m fine, I’m in Blue, I’m safe. It’s all okay.”

“What was crying?” Pidge asked, and one or two sighs of relief could be heard through the comms. Definitely Hunk, and... Keith? No, Keith didn’t like him enough to be relieved.

The creature squirmed, and Lance sighed. “As for what was crying... you’ll see when I get back.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It’s a long story, Pidge, a long and odd story.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> all right, from this chapter onwards, updates will be a little lax. i want to take some time planning this one out (plus, i need publicity still, so if you can promote this i'd be honored!!)
> 
> the next update might not be for a couple weeks, so yeah. Thank you for all your support!


	3. aleeza

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we find out the identity of the new child.

“Lance, what the _hell_?!” Shiro barked as the blue paladin rushed in, cradling the alien in his arms. “You scared the life out of us, you know that?”

“I know, I know,” Lance attempted to pacify their leader, but it was hard to gesture when you were busy holding a slimy alien baby. “But it was for important reasons, okay?”

“What,” said Pidge, her eyes widening behind her helmet as she noticed Lance’s companion, “the hell, is _that_.”

The alien in Lance’s arms was humming again, a soft sound that made a faint rumble against his chest. He wasn’t sure what that meant- was it happy, scared, angry? Was it about to leap out of his arms and maul another paladin, vicious-bunny style?

“So, uh, remember that egg that I found?”

“Oh my god.” Hunk murmured.

“Yeah, well, this is what was inside it.”

“Is it... alive?” Keith asked, sidling up closer to peer over at the creature. It responded to his presence and squirmed, letting off a soft mewl that was the first vaguely verbal sound Lance had ever heard it make. “That... answers my question.”

The rest of the paladins gathered round to inspect Lance’s newfound friend, watching it squirm and cry faintly, not appearing to be in distress. The goop from its birth was beginning to dry, but it matted its purple fur, making it sticky to the touch.

“Paladins, what’s going on?” Allura’s voice cut through the soft chatter they were making, discussing Lance’s foolishness and the alien now wriggling in his grip. She wandered over and leaned up on her toes to see the commotion, only to inhale sharply at the sight.

“What’s wrong?”

“Coran?” She called, backing away. “Coran, come over here. Right now.”

“Princess, are you all r-” Shiro was interrupted by a tired but clearly enthusiastic Coran, fresh from escorting the prisoners to medbays and places to sleep. “What’s happening here, eh?”

“I found an egg in the prison ship and I touched it and it hatched and now we have this.” Lance said in one breath, already tired of explaining the story, and held out the creature he was holding. It cried out at the sudden movement, but didn’t seem to be in pain.

“Oh. Oh my.” Coran spoke after giving the baby a once-over, them his eyes widened as something appeared to register in his brain. “Oh my _goodness_.”

Lance’s eyes flicked from the alien to Coran. “What?”

“That’s a Karakaki!” Coran shouted, and snatched the alien from his grasp, leaving Lance gaping and empty-handed. He whirled around, the alien gasping as it was suddenly moved. “We need to get her to a healing pod _immediately_. You said she just hatched?”

“Uh, yeah?” Lance and the rest of the paladins tagged along as Coran rushed down a hall, the Karakaki’s tail swishing as she mewled pitifully. “How big was her egg?” was Coran’s next question, and Lance attempted to think back to when he found it in the locked room.

“I think it came up to my knee?” Lance said as Coran turned another corner into one of the medbays, this time with smaller pods that he had never seen before. The Voltron crew stood confusedly as Coran rushed about, eventually pushing the crying alien into a pod where she went quiet.

“Just as I thought,” Allura murmured, looking at the little alien through the glass. “A Karakaki. But those haven’t been around since-”

“Since the days of Altea, yes,” Coran said, tapping at the pod’s control panel.

“Okay, this all seems really important and stuff, so I’d really like to know what the _hell_ is going on,” Hunk said, breaking the silence. Allura turned to face the group.

“What Lance found was a Karakaki egg, containing a very elusive and, honestly, I presumed extinct species known for their unique abilities.”

“Like what?” Pidge asked, wandering over to peer at the sleeping alien.

“Karakaki are a species of empaths- they can read the emotions of the living creatures around them. In fact, that’s how they survive.” Allura cast her eyes over to the pod. “Their eggs can last for thousands upon thousands of years, growing the baby inside, because they only hatch around those with strong feelings of love, loyalty or affection.”

“Oh,” Lance murmured.

“Back in the day, the Karakaki and the Alteans were great allies and friends, but sadly the species was weak in the greater universe and was quickly dying out. By now I would have expected them to be nothing but a distant memory.” Allura’s voice suddenly brightened, and she stepped towards the pod, a note of triumph in her voice. “But here one is, alive and breathing and new! It’s... incredible!”

“I never thought I would see another member of her kind again,” Coran said, staring at the sleeping Karakaki. “But here she is.”

“Oh,” Lance said again. He looked over at the alien he had rescued, watching her little chest move up and down as she slowly breathed in the pod, her eyes screwed shut as they had been since she hatched. She suddenly felt a lot more important, a lot more special. This wasn’t just some creature that had gotten lucky that a paladin was around for him to rescue them. This was the last member of a dead race, once proud, now reduced to one tiny, sticky being, sleeping in a healing pod, her eyes never once opening.

“She’ll need a name, of course,” Allura said, her eyes flicking over the data reports on the pod’s control panel. “Thankfully, Karakaki don’t need much maintenance physically, alth-”

“Aleeza.”

“What?” Allura turned towards the group.

“Her name. It’s Aleeza.” It was Keith, stepping forwards, his helmet in his hands. It was the first he’d spoken in a while, and there was a look in his eyes that Lance couldn’t quite place, one of pride and affection and maybe even a hint of triumph.

“Aleeza.” Allura looked back towards the alien, and smiled. “I like that.”

Inside the pod, Aleeza kept breathing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so ive decided ill update every saturday, if thats cool with yall. also i probably sound really blunt in this note but its like, ass o'clock where i am right now so forgive me.
> 
> next chapter we get properly introduced to aleeza and also we start geting into the plot. please leave comments theyre so good i love them every time i read the ones on chap 2 i cry


	4. hello

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we meet Aleeza.

She didn’t stir for a week.

Everyone counted the days, even if they didn’t say so. Lance could see the look on their faces whenever they passed the room, even if they couldn’t see inside, just the thought of her sleeping in there, eyes fluttering, chest slowly pumping. She was like a force, and everyone in the castle was acutely aware of her presence.

Lance had only seen her since the mission once, when the lights of the castle were dim and everyone was asleep. He had watched as she breathed in the dark, reassuring himself that she was still there, still alive, before slipping back to his room and gaining a slumber full of odd and unrestful dreams.

When she finally woke, it was like the whole castle exploded.

Alarms blared, jarring Lance out of bed to land half-naked on the floor. He stuck his head out of his room and looked around in a panic, the noise of the alarms jarring to his ears.

“What’s happening?” Keith asked, from just a door down, doing the same as Lance. He was still a little irritated that he just had to get the room next to the red paladin, but that really was just his luck. The lingering attraction that just refused to go away for him wasn’t helping, either. Just the sight of him this early, with his hair a little scruffed in the back from lying down, made the blood roar in Lance’s ears.

But alarms were blaring, too, and teenage crushes could be put away in favor of _not_ _dying_. Lance went back to wrestle a shirt on, and dashed down the hall, Keith long gone.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” he gasped as he slid to a stop in the main room, the incessant beeping of the alarms now faded in his subconscious to meaningless background noise. At his voice, Allura turned on her heels, clasping her hands together as a grin spread on her face.

“She’s waking up!”

“...what.”

“Aleeza is finally showing signs of consciousness!” Coran said chirpily, as if he hadn’t woken Lance up from a possible hour extra of rest. He tapped a screen and the alarm petered out, leaving only a ringing in Lance’s ears. “We’re all going down there now to welcome her, so to speak. It’ll be exciting!”

“You set the alarms for this?”

++++++++++++

Human beings, as a collective, have a tendency to be pessimistic about everything when woken up early from sleep. Even if that everything includes the awakening of a newborn child of an extinct species.

However, they would soon be less upset about the deal.

The pod’s doors swished open with a soft poof of cold air that clouded in the lights. It was quieter than Lance had expected, and it seemed as if everyone in the room was holding their breath.

As Allura lifted the unmoving body of Aleeza to the nearby table, laying her gently on the surface, Hunk spoke up.

“Is she, like, okay? Because from here she looks...” He let the sentence trail off. Everyone knew what he meant.

“She’s still glowing, and her heart is beating, so she is alive.” Coran said as he watched the little alien. “I don’t know why she’s not responding...”

And then, suddenly, there was a sharp inhale, a hiss of breath that did not match the evenness of her breathing.

Aleeza’s eyes snapped open as if she had been shocked, and her whole body twitched in the air. Her eyes were incredible- they were big and a neon turquoise, practically glowing against her lavender fur. The pupils were not the round ones that humans and Alteans had, but instead formed in the shape of two slits, a cross in each eye. As Lance watched, the crosses dilated and shrunk, adjusting to a world they had never seen before.

A whine permeated the air, as Aleeza began to move, stretching her small arms and legs, tail lashing once, twice, three times. She wasn’t sticky anymore, and a poof of hair on her head that was once slicked down by slime now looked fluffy and new. As her catlike ears fluttered, she seemed to become aware of the people around her, and squirmed in an attempt to see them. The whine grew louder and higher-pitched, and it became obvious that Aleeza was the source.

“Is she gonna cry? I can’t deal with little kids, I’m sorry.” Pidge said, staring at Aleeza with curiosity.

“She’s just scared, I think.” Coran said, watching her intently. None of them had dared to move, not yet.

Suddenly, Aleeza turned her whole head to the side, getting a full-on view of each individual paladin. Her eyes danced from Shiro to Hunk to Keith to Pidge to-

She caught sight of Lance, and the whining stopped.

The color of her glow changed from a sickly pink to a morning-sky blue, just like the egg before it hatched. Her eyes brightened and suddenly, she was smiling, baring a grin full of miniscule sharp fangs. Aleeza reached for him, her little hands grasping at the air in Lance’s direction as she kept smiling, the whine now replaced with a soft hum.

Lance walked up slowly, and inched a hand towards her, his fingers grazing the surface of her short, fluffy fur. Aleeza grabbed his hand and wrapped her little ones around his fingers, a liquid, burbling giggle sounding as she splayed his hand and gently shifted his fingers from one position to the next with the curiosity of what she was- a newborn child.

“I think she likes you,” Shiro said as Lance began to smile back at the little creature, watching her play with his fingers like they were something magical.

“Hi there,” he said, and she looked up at him and laughed again.

The hush that had fallen over the room was broken, and everyone moved closer, attempting to touch Aleeza’s soft fur or just to get a better look at her. Lance decided to scoop her up, so he did, despite her being surprisingly dense.

Now Lance knew about children. He knew that little children, like, oh, newborns, didn’t like to be bothered much. But Aleeza was different. She lapped up the attention, let everyone touch her or say hello, and kept smiling through it all, her fingers still wrapped around Lance’s. She would reach out occasionally, too- she tapped Hunk’s nose with her small finger and giggled when he stuck his tongue out for her, and grabbed the odd tuft of hair that Shiro had in curiosity. But the one she seemed to like the most, other than Lance, was Keith.

When he came around, Aleeza stared at him, shifting her head slightly as if to get a better angle. She reached out, just once, and with the little claws on the ends of her fingers she tapped his forehead, and smiled when he crossed his eyes to look.

 _Good_ , she seemed to be saying. _These_ _people_ _are_ _good_. _I_ _care_ _about_ _them_. _They_ _matter_ _to_ _me_.

And Lance felt that way too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YEAH HI I KNOW IM REALLY LATE WITH THIS AND IM SORR-Y... im like two weeks late and im really sorry about it but inspiration is hard to come by these days. in better news:
> 
> -i have found out a possible huge help in defeating my depression and  
> -i have been working a lot on worldbuilding and details about the karakaki! 
> 
> basically i now have official designs for aleeza in several stages of growth, and information on the karakaki homeworld and how their species work. more of that information was released this chapter, but theres still a lot that probably wont he covered in this story. if you want more information, just hit up my inbox at my tumblr, rainphee!
> 
> and i know this is a sorry grab, but i really would love to see this fic shine. please, please, PLEASE help out, if you like it, by advertising on your tumblr, twitter, whatever you do to connect with other voltron fans and bring attention to the work i do. i would really really love and appreciate it, and i hope to be releasing these more regularly!
> 
> i could also use some betas, so if you're interested, hit me up at rainphee!
> 
> thank you for all your kindness and support on this shitty fic of mine. i really love and treasure you all.

**Author's Note:**

> basically this was a prompt from fistatfirstklance on tumblr!! and i was like "shit dude id... id write it if u want" so here it is. this is unbeta'd so hmu if you want to save my sorry ass and beta for me
> 
> also hit me up at @rainphee on tumblr! id love to hear from you all!
> 
> thanks!!
> 
> EDIT: there is now official art of aleeza, drawn by me! here is the link to the tumblr post: https://rainphee-art.tumblr.com/post/157504370675/small-adorable-alien-child-looks-at-the-stars-and


End file.
